IDK – “BRAVADO iNTiMO…” review

British-American rapper, singer/songwriter & producer IDK is back for his 4th studio LP. Beginning to make waves in the spring of 2014 off his first 3 mixtapes profile began to significantly increase in 2017 when he signed to Williams Street Records in order to put out a 4th tape IWasVeryBad to critical acclaim. He continued the grind by putting out a debut EP IDK & Friends as well as the full-length album Is He Real? & his 2nd EP IDK & Friends: Basketball County, but the sophomore effort USEE4YOURSELF a couple summers ago was very underwhelming. Simple. however fully produced by KAYTRANADA wound up being his strongest body of work to date & F65 was a decent conceptual effort. Fast forward a year & a half later, he’s following it up with BRAVADO iNTiMO….

After the “HELLO” intro, the first song “CELiNE iN THE TRAP” starts by hopping over this guitar driven instrumental from Tae Beast bringing it to your live from the underground whereas “TiFFANY” featuring Gunna works in this boisterous trap beat so both of them can talk about their love for the Celine fashion brand. “KiCKiN!” maintains the trap vibes kickin’ doors down feeling untouchable just before “DENiM” featuring Joey Bada$$ hooks to kick & snares back up talking about never being the ones tryna ball for bitches.

“MiLES TRUMPET” comes clean that he doesn’t know how to love since he’s too young sticking with a luxuriously dusty edge instrumentally leading into “CHECK!” having a bit of a quirkier beat to talk about sticking to the door unless you got a check. “PAPERCUTS” offers a bit of a calmer atmosphere talking about people trying to fuck his paper up, but then “SWiTCH” featuring Conway the Machine brings both of them together to address the system.

The song “SUPERNOVA” featuring The Arti$t begins the encore of BRAVADO iNTiMO… by allowing both of them to get on the pop rap tip together while the penultimate track “SEE YOU AGAiN” heads for a guitar-driven direction asking this woman who could very well be the love of his life when will they see another next. “GOODBi” serves as more of an outro giving listeners a token of his appreciation while “MARiO COiNS” after the “…” intro starts the deluxe run murdering everyone in 2025.

“S U (B)” featuring Denzel Curry links up over this trap beat pleading to not make ‘em wanna switch up on them counting all the dividends together while “MiLES TRUMPET 2” talking about being way too young to fall in love this woman he has in mind. “RiCH MAN DREAMS” featuring Ab-Soul takes a jab at everyone out here acting like they know ‘em when they clearly don’t & the final bonus track “FLOW” talks about finding the answer within a verb.

Originally intended to be a 2-disc offering, the official F65 picks up from the predecessor by showing 2-different sides to the Maryland based recording artist. The production ranges from boom bap to trap & pop rap showcasing his boldness intended to impress on 1 end, allowing him to make room for the intimate & vulnerable sides of him to be shown in addition.

Score: 4/5

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IDK – “F65” review

This is the 3rd full-length album from British-American rapper, singer/songwriter & producer IDK. Beginning to make waves in the spring of 2014 off his first 3 mixtapes profile began to significantly increase in 2017 when he signed to Williams Street Records in order to put out a 4th tape IWasVeryBad to critical acclaim. He continued the grind by putting out a debut EP IDK & Friends as well as the full-length album Is He Real? & his 2nd EP IDK & Friends: Basketball County, but the sophomore effort USEE4YOURSELF a couple summers ago was very underwhelming. Simple. however fully produced by KAYTRANADA wound up being his strongest body of work to date & was enough to have me anticipate F65 over here.

“Cape Coast” is a jazzy opener to the album about keeping it inside sometimes yet still he cries whereas “Pit Stop” admits that the last time he shed a tear was when Prince passed away 7 years ago by now with a bouncy trap instrumental attached to it. Fat Trel tags along for “Thug Tear” blends some strings & hi-hats clarifying that it’s on sight because that’s exactly what you get when you slip 10-time WWE world champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 5-time WWE Tag Team Champion & $7 Productions co-founder The Rock just before “Champs-Élysées” brings back the saxes & keys talking about still having to be on his hood shit when he’s on his boujee shit.

NLE Choppa’s contribution to “Salty” is underwhelming to say the least & the subject matter of making bitches bitter doesn’t really help despite the wavy trap production but after the “D.S.T.P.” interlude, “Mr. Police” works in a bare piano instrumental basically telling the feds to go fuck themselves. Jucee Froot & Saucy Santana both come into the picture for “Pinot Noir” obnoxiously sampling “My Neck, My Back (Lick It)” by Khia to deliver an mediocre ass-shaking anthem leading into “Paperchaser” talking about keeping the block hot over a reverberated beat.

“Elmina” with Tay Iwana almost as a bit of a more tropical flare to the beat making it clear that he wants to see his girl’s bodying grinding to the rhythm while “Georgetown” is a spacious boom bap ballad about being ready at anytime. “Radioactive” goes full-blown Philly club having the glocks on up with the switches & after the “Know” interlude, “Télé Couleur” fuses jazz with boom bap very well talking about his side & theirs’ never been symmetrical.

Meanwhile, “Rabbit Stew” has an intriguing dance break with a spacious instrumental discussing rather wanting to love this woman on the low while “We on Top / 850” starts off with some hi-hats & strings before later swapping out the strings with synths during the 2nd half switch-up as he & Rich the Kid talk about running shit. After the “Middle Passage” interlude, “Still Your Man” jumps on top of a bass guitar reminding that he even said at the beginning that his thoughts don’t change.

After the “St. Nicholas & 118th” interlude, the song “Up the Score” with Benny the Butcher finds both MCs calling out motherfuckers who be cooperating with the feds & that they simply tryna win out here over an orchestral beat while the penultimate track “Superwoman” is a lavish 7 minute pop rap ballad about knowing the woman of his dreams very well. “Freetown” however primarily comes off as an instrumental outro to the album with a spoken word bit at the backend of it.

Even though I still think that Simple. remains as the best thing that IDK has ever done respectfully, it’s worth noting that F65 at the end of the day will satisfy listeners for being a mature sequel to SubTRAP. The excessive amount of interludes are honestly annoying & a few performances from the features don’t quite stick the landing, but the concept of him creating a place to be free & honest where everyone is respected reminds me of the P.Y.U.N.E. concept of Tech N9ne’s 20th album Planet.

Score: 3/5

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IDK – “Simple.” review

IDK is a 29 year old British-American rapper, singer/songwriter & producer who broke out in the spring of 2014 off his debut mixtape Sex, Drugs & Homework. This was followed up with Subtrap & The Empty Bank, but his profile began to significantly increase in 2017 when he signed to William Street Records put out a 4th tape entitled IWasVeryBad to critical acclaim. He continued the grind by putting out a debit EP IDK & Friends as well as the full-length album Is He Real? & a 2nd EP IDK & Friends 2, but his sophomore effort USEE4YOURSELF last summer was very underwhelming. That being said, I was very much looking forward to his 3rd EP right here after learning that KAYTRANADA would be producing the whole thing.

“Drugstore” is a hip house opener about seeing that money talk & after the “Southeast to Paris” skit, Denzel Curry tags along for the jazz rap banger “Dog Food” with a fresh Lil Wayne interpolation during the hook. “Zaza Tree” returns to hip house turf & the hook here interpolates the late Soulja Slim very well.“Breathe” is a more atmospheric ballad talking about catching his breath leading into “Taco” incorporating some funky house influences settling some beef. Mike Dimes comes into the picture for the final song The Code” to discuss their #1 rules over a piano instrumental & “Paris to Southeast” ends the EP with yet another skit.

This is definitely much better than USEE4YOURSELF & I’ll even say that this is the crown jewel of IDK’s discography so far. Not only because he sounds incredibly laser-focused & comes through with some fantastic subject matter, but KAYTRANADA’s production is a breath of fresh air as it’s the most detailed it’s ever been on any project that Jay has put out previously.

Score: 4/5

IDK – “USEE4YOURSELF” review

This is the sophomore album from British-American rapper, singer/songwriter & producer IDK. Breaking out in the mid-2010s off his first 3 mixtapes under his original moniker Jay IDK, his profile began to significantly increase in 2017 when he signed to William Street Records put out a 4th tape entitled IWasVeryBad to critical acclaim. This was followed up with the debut EP IDK & Friends as well as his first full-length Is He Real? but with the 1-year anniversary of IDK & Friends 2 passing a couple weeks ago, Jay is delivering the long-awaited USEE4YOURSELF.

After the 301–809-1821 intro, the first song “Santa Monica Bvld.” is a bassy celebratory opener about him winning whereas “Dogs Don’t Lie” works in an alluring vocal sample to talk about trust. He also disses Anthony Fantano for giving Is He Real? a 6/10, which is bitter because many other people gave it the same score including ShawnCee’s annoying ass & even myself. “Truth” is a 30-second ambient cut saying he’s focused on money leading into Young Thug tagging along for the braggadocious “PradadaBang” produced by Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee of all fucking people.

Meanwhile on the 5th & final WWE NXT WarGames theme song “Shoot My Shot”, we get a vibrant trap beat from T-Minus along with Offset accompanying IDK to be flirtatious just before Westside Gunn & Jay Electronica come into the picture to help discuss gold diggers on the luxurious trap banger “Red”. After the “Jelly” interlude, the Lucky Daye-assisted “Puerto Rico” serves as a corny ode to “5-star bitches” whereas “Temporary Love” is pretty much a 1-minute SiR song with little to no IDK presence whatsoever.

“10 Feet” with T-Pain is a lukewarm attempt at a strip club banger, but then “Keto” makes up for it with it’s synth-laced instrumental from The Neptunes to the charismatic performances from IDK alongside Rico Nasty & Swae Lee. He later compares himself to the great Michael Jordan on the minimal “1995” & then the “Payback’s a Dog” sample that “Peloton” brings to the table is so well played for him to talk about a woman who made his ego so high.

The track “Hey Auntie” with Slick Rick is a keyboard-heavy tribute to both of their respective aunts while the final song “Cry in Church” has a tension-building beat & lyrics about how IDK would rather be. Finally, “Closure” serves as a spoken-word outro with IDK talking over the phone saying that mockingbird represents innocence to him.

Coming away from this album, my feelings on it are pretty mixed. I think the concept of toxic masculinity being instilled in his mind at the early age is intriguing, but nearly half the cuts on here are so short that there’s literally no point of them being on here & most of the features hardly have any presence to them.

Score: 2.5/5